Facing a federal trial slated to begin next week and additional charges that came on Wednesday, García pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit mail fraud.

One of the charges involves a $450,000 contract he steered to one of his lovers and the other dealt with cheating on students' test scores.

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García admitted to defrauding the Texas Education Agency and the U.S. Department of Education by improperly boosting state and federal accountability scores at several campuses to secure federal funding through No Child Left Behind.

"Lorenzo García was entrusted to oversee and administer the district as well as the education of our children. He violated that trust," said interim EPISD Superintendent Terri Jordan, who was García's chief of staff on the dates mentioned in the federal charges, in a statement. "He violated that trust."

Jordan has repeatedly declined to answer questions about whether she was involved in the effort to inflate student scores or knew of the cheating.

"The District acknowledges the U.S. Attorney's Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of Education in their work to investigate these matters, which resulted in his guilty plea," she said.

Diane Christmas, a social worker at Delta Academy, an EPISD alternative school at the Juvenile Justice Center, said she thought García would have fought the charges against him.

"It certainly gives the whole district a bad name," Christmas said. "The bottom line is the people who were hurt by it were the students.

Reporter Hayley Kappes

It's going to take a while before anyone trusts our school district again."

A federal information document filed on Wednesday states García conspired with six unnamed people, who have not been indicted, to inflate the scores.

Norma De La Rosa, president of the El Paso Teachers Association, said she was concerned that some of the unnamed people are still working at the school district.

"A lot of employees that I've spoken to have asked me 'When are the others going to go down?' " De La Rosa said. "The perception is García wasn't in this alone. I don't think it will come as a surprise to anybody that they're people still working at central office."

School-board President Isela Castañon-Williams said it was upsetting that García and others were involved in manipulating student test scores. "There will have to be many changes depending on who these individuals are," Castañon-Williams said. "Certainly, they will no longer be with the school district.

"It is understandable that there is a trust issue in the community; however, we are all members of the community and we all have to help to rebuild this school district."

Castañon-Williams tried to distance the current school board from García's wrongdoings, insisting trustees inherited the district's current problems.

The federal document states that from February 2006 to Aug. 1 2011, García and others manipulated test scores. All current EPISD trustees except Rocio Benedicto were serving during that period.

The leader of one of the district's largest employee groups called on the school board to undertake more accountability.

Lucy Clarke, president of the El Paso Federation of Teachers and Support Personnel, said it's the school board's responsibility to prevent and act against wrongdoing in the district.

"There will have to be actions," Clarke said. "I'm looking to the board of trustees to step up and say we represent the stakeholders, and this is what needs to be done."

The district in early May asked the Texas Education Agency for a "special administrative partner" or other help in ensuring accuracy of student grades.

But, since the agency acts as a regulatory body, state officials referred the district to technical assistance through the Region 19 Education Service Center.

"We're disappointed that an educator would violate the public trust this way," TEA spokeswoman Debbie Ratcliffe said in a statement. "People expect better from educators and we need to live up to those high expectations."

Former state Sen. Eliot Shapleigh in 2010 asked the U.S. Department of Education to investigate claims that the district had manipulated standardized test scores by not allowing certain low-performing students to take the tests.

At the time, García rallied community support behind his assertion that Shapleigh's claims were baseless, standing alongside students at a news conference at Coronado High School.

"Our community should give great thanks to the FBI for getting to the truth," Shapleigh said. "Now comes the tough questions: How did our most important public institution get so corrupted, and more importantly, what will we do to carve out the corruption to restore quality education once again?"

State Sen. José Rodríguez, D-El Paso, also called on the community to take a more active role in holding school officials accountable.

"I applaud the hard work, courage and tenacity of my predecessor, Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, who brought this issue to the attention of state and federal officials," Rodríguez said in a statement. "He stuck his neck out for the children of El Paso and his efforts should be commended."

Hayley Kappes may be reached at hkappes@elpasotimes.com; 546-6168. Follow her on Twitter @hayleykappes.

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